SAN FRANCISCO's first playoff win in Valkyries history was not a star night so much as a roster night. Golden State beat Dallas 104-80 in Game 1 of the best-of-three first round, then packed for Arlington. Game 2 is Wednesday at College Park Center, 8 p.m. CT on ESPN. A win ends the series. A loss sends everyone back to Chase Center for Friday.
The separating sequence was the second quarter: 37-11, a WNBA postseason record for points in a second period. Golden State shot 13-of-18 in the quarter, made 7-of-10 threes, and did not turn it over. Dallas trailed 21-20 after one and 58-31 at half. For the full night the Valkyries went 18-of-36 from three, the second-most makes by a team in a WNBA playoff game.
Strength in numbers, not a single hero
Cecilia Zandalasini led Golden State with 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Tiffany Hayes scored 21 off the bench in under 19 minutes. Gabby Williams finished with 20 and a game-high plus-27. Coach Natalie Nakase boiled the identity down to a phrase she has used all year: strength in numbers - health, energy, and execution without waiting for one closer.
Hayes sparked the avalanche with a steal-and-layup and consecutive threes to open the second. Kayla Thornton hit a corner three in transition that forced a Dallas timeout; afterward she told ClutchPoints the moment was about momentum and defensive aggression feeding open looks. Williams spent long stretches trailing Paige Bueckers 94 feet.
Bueckers still scored 21 on 9-of-10 shooting, but she said the makes were contested work, and Williams framed the plan as making every possession expensive enough to tire a star over a series.
Nakase was already talking recovery mode and film before the confetti mindset could settle. She expects a hungry Dallas group at home and said nothing carries over from Game 1. Thornton echoed the same closeout math: enjoy it for a second, then take care of business on the road.
